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IRL Opens March 18 at Phoenix

© Seth Ronald Eichhorn

The long winter is finally over. On March 18, the Indy Northern Light Racing Series takes to Phoenix International Raceway for the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200. If you noticed, the words Copper World were included in the official name of the race and for good reason. This year, the Indy cars will share the track with the traditional Copper World contenders of the USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet, WorldCom National and Western Midgets and supermodifieds. For the fans in Phoenix, that means a weekend of the best racing around.

The name that make up the Copper World traditon read like a Who's Who of Racing, and not just open wheeled racing. NASCAR's Jeff Gordon, for example, won the Silver Bullet race in 1991 and Ken Schrader won back to back Silver Bullet crowns in 1989 and 1990, as well as being in the record book for winning the midget races in 1981 and 1982. The list goes on and on with Tony Stewart, Billy Boat, Jason Lefler, Mike Bliss and Jimmy Kite. These races are traditionally the stepping stone to bigger and better things, and many drivers, such as the ones mentioned above, used them for just that. Now, they're some of the biggest names in motor sport's most elete divisions, but when they started, they were the ones to beat in Sprints and Midgets.

With this much talent on hand, who knows what might happen. Perhaps some of your favorite IRL drivers may decide to take a spin in a midget or Silver Bullet car. Don't laugh, it's happened before. Last year, for example, Copper World Grand Marshall Tony Stewart made the decision to bring his helmet and fire suit and ended up giving the command to start the midget race from the cockpit of his midget. By the way, Tony showed he still had what it takes as he not only gave the starting command, but brought home the checkered flag as well. How's that for flag-to-flag action?

Pole qualifying for the Copper World Indy 200 is scheduled for March 17 at noon and the race is scheduled to take the green flag at 2 p.m. MST, Sunday, March 18. ABC Sports will telecast the race live at 4 p.m. EST and coverage is also scheduled for ESPN2 which will televise the qualifying runs.

On a related note, Phoenix marks the debut of a new team in the IRL, Sam Schmidt Racing. The IRL veteran Schmidt, who was injured in an accident last season that ended his career behind the wheel, has hired IRL veteran Davey Hamilton to pilot his entry in this year's IRL events. Hamilton, who has started every IRL event held, brings the experience needed to make this team a winner from the beginning. His experience at Phoenix, he's driven the course 26 times, and the experience of crew chief Steve Dunlap make this new team a definite contender in the Copper World Indy 200, as well as every other race this season. It's not often a new team has the chance to make such an impact on the sport, but the Sam Schmidt always was one who made an impact, wherever he raced.

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